[BB] What did you do with your weekend?

[Carol]

My question is, what did the FTA say/do to provoke the comment? You can't tell me that the person that was doing the yelling was yelling just to yell.

That shouldn't even be a consideration. No matter how provoked, how angry you are, you ALWAYS act with respect and courtesy. There are ways to get your point across without resorting to swearing. FIRST is real life, not a blog or radio talk show where you can act badly with no consequences. We have not done our job of preparing students for careers if we condone such behavior.

Remember, the field people (with the exception of FIRST employees) are all volunteers. They are volunteering their time and almost always their money to enable YOU to compete. (A few key volunteers sometimes get their expenses paid, but very few.) If volunteers get reactions such as the one being discussed, no matter if it was their fault, they will stop volunteering. It takes a special person to be a FTA - don't chase them away.

And teams losing awards because of one student's behavior is unfortunately not rare. It's an open secret that judges have always asked field personnel if any teams have stood out in their minds, negatively or positively. And not just for incidents on the field either.